In research and development of substances to be directly applied to humans, such as cosmetic products, medicinal products, and nonmedicinal products, evaluation tests for substances such as a drug effect test, a pharmacological test, and a safety test are important. Conventionally, these tests have been conducted through use of animals such as mice and rats. However, in recent years, there is a demand for reconsidering an animal test from the viewpoint of animal protection, and various methods replacing the animal test have been proposed. As one of the methods, there is given an in vitro test or the like using a cultured skin model.
Further, in the fields of transplantation medicine and regeneration medicine, a cultured skin has been used as a covering material for treating a burn or a wound.
For the above-mentioned reasons, research and development of a cultured epidermis, a cultured skin, and the like have been extensively performed, and various proposals have been made. For example, there are a cultured epidermis obtained by culturing epidermis cells on collagen gel three-dimensionally (for example, Patent Document 1); and a cultured skin including a dermis and an epidermis obtained by arranging an amnion with an epithelium removed therefrom on collagen in which fibroblasts are embedded, and inducing the differentiation of normal human keratinized cells on the aminon to form an epidermis layer (for example, Patent Document 2 and Non-Patent Document 1, etc.). In addition, there is a method for producing a high-density dermis-like tissue through use of a reactor in which a mesh member and a liquid flow-controlling member are provided in a route for circularly culturing a cell culture liquid containing an extracellular matrix component and cells, and then, forming an epidermis layer through use of epidermis cells and a recombinant protein obtained by combining a cell growth factor and a collagen-bound domain (for example, Patent Document 3).